In The Clouds
by bow-to-my-tie
Summary: When their flight is delayed for seven expectingly tedious hours, John Noble and Rose Tyler make some light conversation that develops into quite a bit more.


**A/N:** Just a one shot that came into my head and wouldn't leave :D Hope you enjoy it!

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><p><em>"Attention all passengers on Tardis Airlines Flight 336. Your flight will be delayed for seven hours due to mechanical repairs and some minor weather disruptions. We're sorry for the delay."<em>

_God damnit._

John Noble wrung his hands together and shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Another seven hours added onto an eleven-hour flight from London, England to Los Angeles, California? Just his luck, honestly.

He stared down at his tuxedo. Maybe this thing really _was_ unlucky like Donna always told him.

The girl next to him looked annoyed as well. He kept his head turned forward but averted his eyes to her direction, discovering that scanning her features wasn't easy to do with only his peripheral vision.

He sighed, leaning his elbow on the plane's wall to his right. If they were going to be spending eighteen (or more) hours together, they were going to have to speak to one another at some point.

As if on cue, the girl turned to him with an exasperated look on her face. "Another seven hours? Can you believe this?"

He smiled sadly and shrugged. "Not the first time my flight has been delayed. I'm honestly used to it at this point, it's kind of sad."

"You travel a lot, then?" she asked conversationally.

He got a good look at her face, then, and noted that she was beyond attractive. She had large brown eyes and eyelashes that seemed incredulously long, along with blonde hair that was brownish at the roots and a slender figure. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with faded words on it that he couldn't read. Yet, somehow the informal outfit made her seem all the more eye-catching.

John nodded. "It's my job. I'm a doctor."

She raised her eyebrows. "A doctor? What are you doing travelling, then?"

"I treat special cases. Going down to see a young girl in L.A. today after a quick meeting," he explained. "I'd call them about the meeting, but, well…" John spared a glance at his cell phone, which was currently turned off at the attendant's request.

The girl smiled sympathetically. "Explains the tux then, I guess."

He blushed, though he wasn't quite sure why. "Yeah, I guess it does. Anyways, what are you going to L.A. for?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, really. Fresh start, I guess? God, when I say that out loud it sounds kind of pitiful."

He shook his head quickly. "That doesn't sound pitiful! I think it's a great place for a fresh start."

It was her turn to blush, then, and John couldn't help but finding himself irrevocably enchanted by her. He tried to clear his mind. He was a busy, busy man. He practically never stopped in one spot for more than a week – he was no good for her, whoever she was.

The girl glanced out of his window and winced, immediately turning her head towards the seat in front of her. "I, um, have never been on a plane before," she explained nervously.

"It'll be fine," he assured her. "Mechanical errors happen all the time on planes, you know. I bet it's the AC machine or a false alarm or something."

She shifted in her seat. "Yeah, you're right. Just, you know, can't help but be worried I guess."

"I got stuck in an elevator once," he said. As soon as the words came out of his mouth he scolded himself mentally. Why would he say that? That sort of story wouldn't ease her in the slightest.

"You're kidding," the girl said, eyes wide. "Were you with anyone?"

"A stranger. He was freaking out, had a total panic attack," John explained.

She grinned brightly. "Bet he was glad you're a doctor, then."

"Wasn't like we were trapped long. Was about fifteen minutes. Definitely not my proudest fifteen minutes, though," John mumbled.

"My name is Rose, by the way, Rose Tyler," she said, extending her hand awkwardly in the limited space that they had.

He grabbed it firmly and shook it. "Rose, that's a lovely name."

Rose laughed and he gave her a skeptical look. "You going to tell me your name or should I just call you Doctor?"

John blushed. Normally he was so good with people, with words. It was a key part of his practice, after all. For some reason when he was talking to this girl everything he knew seemed to fly out the window. Well, not the airplane window since that didn't exactly _open. _It flew out of a metaphorical window. "It's John. John Noble."

She pursed her lips in thought. "Hmm, dunno. Just plain Doctor seems to fit you. Think I may stick with that."

"By all means, do. Makes me sound smarter than I actually am," he replied happily.

They spent the next few hours laughing and talking about everything and nothing, from their childhoods to their future aspirations. Rose told him about why she was going to Los Angeles, she wanted to escape her ex boyfriend Jimmy Stone and his, as she so eloquently put it, asshole tendencies.

He told her about never catching a break, about saving lives and about the days when not everybody lives. He found himself revealing more to her than he had to any other person apart from Donna, his sister. He wasn't quite sure what trait it was about this mysterious Rose Tyler, but something about her made him feel a sort of warmth inside he wasn't sure he had felt before.

For a brief moment he allowed himself to wonder if that was what love felt like.

He rather liked the feeling.

Then, the plane started shaking. It wasn't bad turbulence at first, and an announcement came over the speakers assuring passengers that there wasn't anything to worry about - they were simply going through some roughish weather and hopefully it would end in an hour or so.

But it sure scared Rose. She gripped the arm railings like they were her anchors to the land and sat edgy in her seat, shaking both because of the turbulence and because of her fear.

John rested his hand on her forearm experimentally, noting how a little tension left her body at the gesture - but still just a little. "Hey, this is normal too, you know?" he said, rubbing his hand up and down her arm now.

"Right, I'm sorry, I'm a coward, honestly," Rose replied, taking in a deep breath but keeping her arm underneath his hand's ministrations.

"You're not a coward!" he blurted out far too quickly and far too loudly. John inwardly cringed. "I just mean, lots of people react this way. It's totally normal."

The plane chose that wonderful moment to shake vehemently again and this time John instinctively wrapped one arm around her shoulders, tucking her body closer to his. Rose leaned into him and clutched at the fabric covering his chest with one hand and remained gripping the armrest with the other.

Even when the turbulence stopped, they remained in their position.

"I can lift up the arm rest between us," Rose suggested after a while of silence.

"Hmm?" he hummed, honestly not having comprehended his words due to his mind being too wrapped up in the thought that their bodies were against each other and she wasn't pulling away.

"The arm rails," she explained more slowly this time. "They lift up. You know, like, into the seat. Only the middle one does, though."

"Oh," he said, removing his arm from her shoulders so that she could pop the armrest upwards. Then, she scooted closer to him and he put his arm around her again. Rose tucked her head into his shoulder and he smiled, partially because the happiness was hard to contain and partially because he knew she couldn't see his face.

A flight attendant was walking around handing out pillows and he took one, resting it against the side of the plane so that he could rest his head on it while Rose rested against his shoulder. The plane vibrated and it was mildly uncomfortable for him, but Rose seemed comfortable so he didn't move.

Within a few minutes he guessed she was asleep. Straining his neck to look at her he could see her eyes fluttered shut and her mouth open slightly. He scooted forward in his chair so that she could pillow her head against his chest without slipping, and a minor smile played on her lips as she cuddled up into him.

Despite the awkward position, he too felt his consciousness slipping away. John settled with placing his arm on her waist instead of her shoulder because it was more snug and within minutes he was asleep.

When Rose opened her eyes, there was something firm against her head. She hummed slightly and, without moving too far from position, examined her surroundings.

The memories came rushing back to her and she remembered – John, John Noble, the Doctor, that was whom she was currently leaning against. Her head was against his chest and her hand was resting on his… _Oh._ It was on his thigh.

Embarrassed even though she was fairly certain he was sleeping, she pulled her hand away and rested it on her own lap. She kept snuggled against him, though. After all, she was rather comfortable.

Then, she heard a noise next to her. Rose blinked and looked up at his face, scanning it intently. He looked rather beautiful when he was sleeping, she thought randomly. The freckles scattered across his face seemed more conspicuous than they had last night, and his features were certainly more relaxed.

He had been a fun enough person when they were talking, of course, but there had been some sort of underlying stress she hadn't quite been able to pinpoint. It seemed as though it had dissipated now.

Then there was the noise again. Now that her eyes were trained on his face she could see his lips moving slowly, forming incoherent words. She smiled slightly; he must talk in his sleep. It somehow only furthered her attraction towards him. His lips moved again and something came out, slightly louder this time though nowhere near loud enough for anyone else on the plane to hear.

"Doctor?" she asked quietly, nudging her head up against his shoulder.

"Mmph," came his reply while he adjusted his position slightly. His arm tightened around her and she blushed furiously.

She realized it wasn't quite fair to wake him up. After all, based on what he had told her the previous night about his workaholic inclinations, he probably needed the sleep. So she allowed him to pull her tighter against his body and listened intently as he mumbled a random stream of words and syllables that didn't tie together in any way shape or form.

After what felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes, he stirred. At first she could tell by the way his body shifted underneath hers more than it had been doing previously, then she could hear his loud yawn. Rose looked up at his face and saw his eyes flickering open, once, twice, then three times as if he was struggling with the task.

"Rose? You awake?" he asked, pushing himself up in the seat slightly.

She leaned away from him and gave him a smile. "Yeah, have been. You talk in your sleep, you know."

John reddened and ducked his head swiftly. "Yeah, so I've been told."

That kind of stung, if she was honest.

Did he have a girlfriend who he had slept with? Or was he possibly talking about sleepovers he had had when he was a child? Perhaps his mother or father or other family member had told him that tidbit of information about his sleeping habits before? Or maybe some stranger had heard him sleeping on a plane before and informed him of the habit. There were a lot of reasons he could know about that. She was obviously just jumping to conclusions.

He seemed to notice her internal conflict and smiled slightly, "My sister, Donna. We used to share a room when we were kids. She said I would talk about random things that didn't really make sense."

Rose felt a pang of guilt for the rush of relief that ran through her. She laughed, "Yeah, it sounded pretty random to me."

"Sorry if it woke you up," he said gently.

She didn't respond and watched as he lifted up a hand and tucked a stray strand of blonde hair behind her left ear. Despite the innocence of the gesture, it felt sort of intimate for a couple of people who had just met the night before. She let him, though, enjoying even the briefest feeling of his skin against hers.

"Your tux is all crinkled," she pointed out, smoothing her hands over his chest.

He looked down at himself and chuckled. "Well obviously I'm not going to the meeting anyways, so I suppose it doesn't matter."

"How long until the plane lands?" Rose asked a flight attendant, wondering just how long they had been asleep.

The attendant smiled and replied cheerfully, "Around three hours."

"Let's see," John said, his voice somewhat husky from sleep. "Eighteen hour flight, yeah? We left at about two in the afternoon. That makes it roughly six in the morning, relatively, of course."

Rose yawned. "God, I think this is the first time I've gotten up at six in the morning in, like, years."

He shrugged. "Same here, although I think we're on opposite ends of the spectrum. I usually wake up at four in the morning."

Rose laughed at that. "I don't know how you can live like that. I wouldn't last a day."

John huffed. "I think you'd be a brilliant doctor."

"Oh, shut it."

"I'm serious! You have all the right qualities minus the degree. You're kind, smart, and I bet you'd have excellent beside manner. I'm afraid that is one quality I am majorly lacking in, even though I took a brief course on it," he said, rolling his eyes as if remembering something bad.

Rose stared up at him, her brown eyes staring into his. "You really think all that?"

"I know it, Rose."

"Well, I don't have a degree in anything. I didn't even get my A levels," she explained sadly. "My stupid boyfriend had me convinced to drop out of school for him."

"It's never too late," he pointed out. "Besides, I've learned so much more from travelling than I would in any school. I did get a college degree though, of course. Not many people would want me treating all these special cases without one. But, seriously, travelling is the best way to get knowledge."

She was taking in every word he was saying, watching his face curiously.

"In my opinion, you have to throw yourself into other cultures. You've got to throw yourself in, eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double and end up kissing complete strangers – or is that just me?"

Rose laughed at that, removing her head from his shoulder and staring at him with a grin that she hoped looked mischievous. "Is kissing complete strangers something you tend to make a habit of, then?"

He blushed pink and cocked his head to the side. "Well…"

Then her lips met his. There wasn't much to the kiss, just the simple touch of her lips upon his for a couple of seconds before she pulled away. It was just a peck yet he felt as though stars were surrounding him and his insides were on fire. He stared at her unblinkingly and ran a hand through his hair, tugging hard on the strands as if to make sure this wasn't just a dream that he was going to wake up from only to find himself embarrassingly hard.

Rose laughed at the probably comical look upon his face and he immediately tried to relax to save himself whatever dignity he had left. Then again, Rose Tyler had just kissed him. Did anything else really matter?

"Rose, I want you to come with me," he announced proudly, letting his proposition hang in the air.

"You want me to what?" she gaped, eyes widening.

He licked his lips, eyes flickering down to her lips before darting back up to her eyes. "As my assistant. Sorry, bad word. We'd be partners. We could be partners. Travel the world together, saving people? We could be the stuff of legends, you and me."

Rose stared at him like he was insane. And, well, she wasn't all too far off. "You want me to just drop everything and travel with you? No A levels or anything?"

"Well, er, I suppose you'd have to ask your mother first," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "But, other than that, you said that you don't really have any plans for Los Angeles… So, here's my proposition, yeah? Stay with me for three nights. If you don't like it, my job, what I do, you leave. If you do, you travel with me to the next location. It's a small town in China," he added after she stared at him blankly.

"You're serious?" she asked quietly, not quite wanting to allow herself to believe this strange, wonderful man who was basically offering to whisk her away from her life. "You want me to come with you?"

He nodded happily. "I wouldn't lie about this sort of thing."

"What if I'm no good? At what you do? What if you find out that I'm not as brilliant as you think?" she asked desperately, folding her arms across her chest. Her voice lowered to a faint whisper, "What then?"

He placed two fingers under her chin and kissed her lips gently, just chastely enough to leave her wanting more. "You'll be amazing, Rose Tyler. I am one hundred percent sure of it."

"Hmmm," she said, pretending to think. He could already tell she had her mind made up. "Yeah, I'll stay with you three nights. I'm not making any promises yet, though," Rose pointed a finger at him and gave him a look.

The Doctor's white teeth gleamed as he gave her a huge smile and pulled her in for a tight hug. "Looking forward to it."

After a while, they agreed upon watching a movie. Rose popped in the first movie of the Harry Potter series (which he insisted, pretty pretty please, might they watch), but Rose quickly found a problem. Instead of focusing on the movie she ended up finding herself focused on the Doctor's reactions to everything happening to Harry and his friends.

She found herself entranced in the way his eyebrows moved, his lips parted, his eyes crinkled up when he smiled or laughed. After a while he looked at her and saw her looking at him, but she didn't look away at all. Instead she kept her gaze upon him, watching as his expression turned to a somewhat quizzical one.

Then, as if deciding something, he leaned in closer and pressed his lips to hers. This kiss was different than the two they had shared earlier – it was slow and lingering and had much more passion and meaning to it. Her lips moved leisurely across his, not moving too fast or too slow, and eventually she felt his tongue dart out and lick her lips.

She returned his gesture wholesomely, moving her tongue into his mouth and wrapping one arm around his back and reaching upwards until it reached his hair. She ran her hands through the chestnut colored locks and scraped her nails along his scalp, eliciting a small moan from the back of his throat. His right hand was tangled up in her blonde hair and the other was cupping her face, holding her firmly to him.

Then, they heard the clearing of a throat from near them. Rose spun around and saw a woman in the middle row of seats glaring at her, a small child next to her playing on what looked to be a Nintendo DS. Rose blushed brightly and offered a silent apology, running a hand down her head in a failing attempt to smooth her now tousled hair.

The Doctor ran a hand through his hair as well but somehow managed to make it look even more mucked up. Rose smiled at him, thinking that the look suited him, and settled on focusing back on the movie.

Around the end of the movie, she looked at him only to discover that he was asleep once again. A small wave of concern ran through her, how much sleep did he get on a regular basis? She let him rest and started the next movie, the Chamber of Secrets, leaving the right ear pod in his ear.

Rose enjoyed the mixed sound of the Doctor's mumbling and the movie, but it wasn't long before the pilot came over the speaker and announced that the flight had landed. She nudged his shoulder and he came to after a few shoves, grinning at her brightly.

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><p>They got off of the plane together and received their luggage. They both had a single rolling case of baggage, and as soon as they were both wheeling them the Doctor wiggled his fingers and extended his hand to her.<p>

She grabbed it without thinking and he leaned in closer to hear ear and whispered, "Run!"

Rose had no idea where he was taking her, no idea where she was going, but she trusted him.

And for once, she didn't look back.

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><p><strong>AN:** Love it? Hate it? Let me know in a review! :D I'd really appreciate it!


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